The Mystery of Kanzaka Manor
by Catgirl the Crazy
Summary: Also known as Catgirlchan's Halloween Fic of DOOM! The Slayers spend the night in an abandoned mansion, only to discover it's haunted. When Zel and Gourry are kidnapped by ghosts, Lina and Amelia must save them. Some trad fluff.
1. Part 1

**A/N:** Happy Halloween folks! This is my little Halloween Special fic. Hope ya like it. I know it's kinda early , but given my record at updating fics, I think it's better this way. And I actually have a pretty good idea on where I'm going with this!

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing! Please don't sue me!

**The Mystery of Kanzaka Manor**

**A.k.a. Catgirl-chan's Cheesy Slayers Halloween Fic of DOOM!**

**Part 1**

It was a dark and stormy night. In the clearing it was so dark and the rain was coming down so hard, you couldn't see anything except a few vague outlines. Then there was a clap of thunder, and a large spooky looking mansion was illuminated for a brief moment. There was another flash of lightning, and for a short moment one could see two small figures emerging from the trees into the clearing.

"Lina!" the taller figure exclaimed. "I think I saw a house!"

"I saw it too Gourry," the other replied excitedly. "Let's go!" The two tired, cold and wet travelers raced towards the mansion.

"Hmmm, do you think we should knock?" Gourry asked, once they reached the front door. (Luckily it was sheltered from the rain).

"We didn't see any lights coming from here," Lina pointed out. "This place has probably been deserted for years."

"Y-you don't think there are any g-ghosts haunting this place, do you L-lina?" Gourry asked, glancing around nervously.

"Of course not!" And with that Lina opened the door and marched into darkness, before realizing Gourry wasn't with her. She turned around and saw him still standing apprehensively at the front entrance. "Look Gourry," Lina said, getting annoyed, "If there _are_ any ghosts around here, I can easily dispatch them with an Elmekia Lance."

"I-if you you say so…" Gourry said, nervously stepping into to door. The front door closed behind him with an ominous and resounding _BOOM, _leaving them in complete darkness. "Aaah!" Gourry yelped, clinging to Lina.

"Gourry! Get offa me!" Lina shrieked, whacking him on the head. _Geez, who'd have thought such a skilled swordsman could be such a baby?_

"Lighting!" Lina's orb of light rose high into the air, illuminating what was apparently an entrance hall. Every thing was covered in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs, which confirmed Lina's suspicion that this place was abandoned. On the side of the hall opposite the front door, there was a grand stair case. At the top of the staircase there was a portrait of a tall blonde woman, who Lina supposed was (or had once been) the owner of this mansion. She was wearing an elegant black strapless evening dress, and she had long blonde hair that came down to her waist, and bangs that completely covered her eyes. The two odd things about the portrait were the strange smirk on her face, and the fact that her right had was resting on a table with an empty flowerpot on it. _Weird._

"Hey Lina!" Gourry called, bringing her back to earth. "I'm cold." He had a point. Lina realized that she too was shivering, and she could hear the sound of her protector's teeth chattering.

"Right Gourry, I'm on it." She scanned the room, and spotted a fireplace. There was still wood in it, but it was soaking wet. A few small fireballs later however, there was a roaring fire crackling merrily in the hearth. Lina took off all her outermost clothes and spread them out in front of the fireplace, close enough so they'd dry quickly, but not so close that they'd catch fire. Lina looked over at Gourry to see what he was doing. The blonde swordsman was sitting cross-legged with his head hanging low. He'd fallen asleep. Lina sighed and did the same for his clothes before sitting down next to him, putting her head on his shoulder, and slowly falling asleep.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mansion, there were two other travelers seeking shelter for the night.

"Mr. Zelgadis, I think we should head back to the village," one implored.

The other sighed. "You're probably right Amelia." Neither one of them fancied going back. It was a long walk, and they were cold tired and hungry. But anything was better than staying out in this weather.

They were about to turn back when Zelgadis spotted something. "Amelia! I think I see a building!""

"What?" Amelia asked, looking around. "I don't see anything."

"There." Amelia looked in the direction Zelgadis was pointing. She thought she could the faint outline of… something, but she couldn't tell what it was. But he did have better vision then she did.

"Alright," she said finally. "We can shelter there for the night." The pair of them trudged off towards the building.

They soon arrived at what appeared to be the back entrance of a large mansion. "Do you think we should knock?" Amelia wondered aloud.

"This place looks like it's been deserted for a while," Zelgadis pointed out. "I'm sure we can go in." He opened the door and went in, Amelia following closely behind.

"I hope this place isn't haunted," Amelia said, glancing around nervously.

"I doubt it," Zel replied. Seeing his companion still wasn't reassured, he added, "You're a Seyruun priestess Amelia. Exorcising a few ghosts should be no problem for you." Amelia was visibly heartened by this.

"You're right Mr. Zelgadis! A mere ghost is no match for my hammer of Justice!"

Zel sweatdropped. "Uh, that's not quite what I meant, but sure, whatever you say," he mumbled. He cast a light spell, which revealed the room they were in to be a fairly large library. Normally he would have gone looking for information on his cure, but right now he was too tired. In the morning perhaps.

While Zelgadis was starting a fire in the fireplace, Amelia was looking at a large portrait above the hearth. It was of a tall blonde woman in an elegant black strapless evening gown. Her hair came down to her waist and her bangs covered her eyes, which made the almost arrogant smirk on her face seem even more conniving. For some reason the woman was holding a shovel. She held it in a way that made it look like she was about to whack someone over the head with it. _Strange._

"Amelia," Zelgadis called, breaking her out of her reverie. "Put your cloak in front of the fire so it can dry off." She saw he'd already done the same, and obeyed. By the time she'd finished, Zel was already asleep. She noticed he was till shivering from the cold. Her judgment clouded from a lack of sleep, Amelia snuggled up next to him and nodded off.

* * *

Gourry woke up with a start. It was pitch black again, which meant that it was still night, and that Lina's light spell had gone out. (Amazing that he could figure that out, no?) But that wasn't what had woken him up. No, what had woken him up was the feeling that they weren't alone. Several presences were coming towards them fast. And he could tell from the bloodlust they weren't friendly either.

"Lina," he whispered urgently. "Wake up."

"Those were _my_ tater tots Gourry," she mumbled, still asleep.

"Lina!"

"Aah!" Lina cried, finally waking up. "What is it Gourry?"

"Something's coming Lina."

Lina paused. He was right, she could sense the presences too. A moment later several ghosts appeared in the entrance hall.

"I guess this place _is_ haunted," she muttered to no one in particular.

"What do we do now Lina?" Gourry asked.

"Fight them. What else?" Lina Inverse wasn't about to run from a few measly ghosts!

* * *

When Zelgadis woke up, he was highly embarrassed to find Amelia snuggled close to him. Blushing profusely, and trying to block out the perverted thoughts going through his head, he slowly disentangled himself from her, careful not to wake her up. She woke up anyways, and asked with a yawn, "M-mr. Zelga-gadis what t-time is it?"

"It's still the middle of the night Amelia. Go back to sleep."

She was about to comply, when something made her sit and frown. "My Justice Sense is tingling," she announced.

_Justice Sense?_ Zel thought, bewildered, _What the hell is-_ A new set of hostile presences interrupted his train of thought. This must have been what the "Justice Sense" thing was all about.

Sure enough, a group of ghosts appeared a few seconds later. Zel quietly chanted a spell, and he could hear Amelia doing the same nearby. So much for a good nights rest.

* * *

Gourry drew his Astral Blade (explanation at the bottom) and lunged at the nearest ghost, slashing him and turning into little specks of astral dust.

"Elmekia Lance!" Lina launched her spell, vaporizing another nearby ghost. _That's two down, a crapload more to go._ "Elmekia Lance!" _Three down._ It went on like this, the two of them taking down ghosts one by one, but no matter how many they killed, more kept appearing. "Elmekia Flame!" Lina vaporized a group of ghosts, only to have more reappear. _This is going nowhere._ "Gourry!" She shouted. "Cover me!"

"Right!" Lina began chanting Flow Break. With luck she could get rid of them all at once. But before she could even get halfway through the incantation, several ghost grabbed Gourry from behind, while another grabbed his sword.

"Lina! Help me!" he yelped as they started to teleport away with him.

"Gourry!" Furiously, Lina began chanting faster, but it wasn't enough. She managed to vaporize the remaining ghosts, but Gourry was already gone.

* * *

"Blam Blazer!" Zelgadis shouted, destroying a small group of ghosts. Amelia, meanwhile, was chanting a priestess' exorcism spell. Zel knew that those spells could take out large numbers of ghosts and lesser demons. The drawback was they took some time to chant, so Zelgadis concentrated on buying that time for Amelia.

Unfortunately, several ghost grabbed Zel from behind and began to teleport away, like they had done with Gourry. However, they managed to put a sleep spell on him to keep him from casting spells

"Mr. Zelgadis!" Amelia's eyes widened in fear as she watched the ghosts take him away. No! She needed more time to finish her spell! She chanted as fast as she could. By the time she let off her spell, he was already gone.

* * *

A/N: Alright folks what do you think? Originally this was gonna be a one shot, but now I've decided to make it 2 or 3 chapters long.

Now there are a couple things I'm sure you want me to explain. First off, Gourry's astral blade. It's a sword I made up, and basically it's a plot device that lets Gourry fight against fight against Mazoku and ghosts. The way it works is that it's specially designed so if you cast a specially modified version of Astral Vine, the spell will last for a couple months instead of a few hours, like it does with Zel's Astral Vined sword. I know I could've used the Blast Blade, but I'm not sure how it's supposed to work, so I didn't.

The other thing you're probably wondering about is the name of the mansion and the portraits Lina and Amelia were looking at. Firstly, yes the mansion is named after Hajime Kanzaka. But there won't be any connection in the story, it's really just a tribute to him, since he was the original creator of the awesomeness that is Slayers. ALL HAIL KANZAKA-SAMA! -Bows- And secondly, the woman in the portraits is NOT the Lord of Nightmares, despite the resemblance. She is just L, Hajime Kanzaka's "Official Spokeswoman" who appears in the afterwords of all the novels. I realize that L and the Lord of Nightmares are supposed to be the same person, but for plot purposes, they're not in this fic. And L will make an appearance, but she'll be acting completely OOC. Again, it's just for plot purposes. Seeya'll next chapter!


	2. Part 2

**The Mystery of Kanzaka Manor- Part 2**

Lina wasn't sure how long she sat on the ground, numbly staring off into space. _Gourry was gone._ And she hadn't been able to do anything. It was like Hellmaster Phibrizzo all over. What if she never saw him again? Something wet touched her cheek, and she realized she was crying. _Snap out of it Lina!_ a voice shouted in her head. _Gourry will be fine! You saved him from Hellmaster, you can save him from a few pathetic ghosts. _Lina stood up, feeling resolved. Sitting around and moping wouldn't solve anything. It was time for action.

The only problem was, now what? Lina had no idea where the ghosts had taken Gourry. She made an inventory of her options. There was one door on the wall to her right, and on the left side of the staircase there was another door. The staircase itself led up to a balcony extending in opposite directions towards two archways on either side of the room.

It was time for the one thing Lina could count on most: her women's intuition. After thinking it over for a minute, she finally decided to head up the stairs and to the right. "Let's see where this corridor leads," she said to herself. It was long, dark, and spooky, with dust and cobwebs everywhere. It was the sort of thing you'd expect to find in a mansion like this. The walls were lined with various pictures, mirrors, and doors, but Lina ignored them all, instead choosing to follow her intuition and keep going straight. She was sure she'd find something eventually.

* * *

Amelia marched through the hallways, a determined look on her face. Those ghosts who had taken Mr. Zelgadis were going to pay. They would feel the wrath of the Flames of Justice burning within her.

Unlike Lina, a course of action had been very easy for Amelia to decide upon. There were only two doors going in and out of the library, and one of them was the door Amelia and Zelgadis and come in through. The other door opened to a long corridor, not unlike the one Lina was currently walking through. Eventually she came across a spiral staircase. Amelia paused for a moment unsure of what to do. Keep walking down the corridor, or go up the stairs? She concentrated for a moment, using her priestess powers (or "Justice Sense" as she preferred to call it) to figure out which way to go.

Eventually she got the feeling that the stairs would lead somewhere important, so up she went.

* * *

"How long is this corridor anyway?" Lina grumbled. It felt like forever since she'd left the Entrance Hall. To make matters worse, all the portraits on the wall were the kind that's painted so it seems like their eyes are following you. It was really starting to creep her out. Lina was sorely tempted to just fireball the lot of them, but that would probably just attract more ghosts. Right, now finding Gourry was more important.

After a while, the corridor came into a fairly large room. It was filled with even more creepy paintings (much to Lina's displeasure), as well as various statues and tapestries. On the other side of the room was an archway, which led to… another long dark corridor. She moaned. _There's no end to them! _

Suddenly, she heard footsteps. Lina tensed, ready to blast whoever it was if need be. _A ghost wouldn't make footsteps. Who else could be here?_ The person who next emerged from the corridor was probably the last person Lina expected, along with Filia and Hellmaster.

"Amelia!"

"Miss Lina!"

After one joyful reunion, and two not so joyful explanations, Lina and Amelia were sitting down in the art gallery, discussing the matters at hand.

"So Mr. Gourry was captured by ghosts?" Amelia asked. Lina nodded.

"And the same happened to Zel, right?"

"Yeah," Amelia replied. "So what do we do now?"

"Rescue them, duh!"

"I know that. I meant _how_ do we rescue them?"

"Hmmm…" Lina furrowed her eyebrows in concentration. She hadn't given it much thought.

"I suppose the only thing we really _can_ do is search the mansion for them," she said finally. "They're bound to be somewhere around here."

Amelia nodded slowly. It wasn't much of a plan, but at the moment it was all they had.

"Alright then, it's decided," Lina said, standing up. "Where do we start looking?"

"Perhaps I can help you young ladies?" came a new voice.

Lina and Amelia both shrieked, and looked around frantically for the speaker. But there was no one else in the room (Dundundun).

"W-who's there?" Amelia stammered.

"Oh, there's really no need to be frightened," the voice said amiably. "I'm quite-"

"No need to be frightened!" Lina roared, using anger to cover up her fear. "After you just came out of nowhere and scared the living daylights out of us, you say there's no need to be frightened! Why don't you show yourself!"

"Very well," the voice said, almost resignedly. Through a nearby tapestry appeared… another ghost. The two sorceresses tensed, ready to cast spells if need be. The ghost was a short, bald, middle aged man with a thick handle bar moustache and monocle. He was fat, and dressed in typical butler attire (whatever that may be). Obviously, he was a butler

"Don't worry," the ghost said mildy. "I won't hurt you. My name is Jeeves. I was once the butler in this mansion."

Lina and Amelia looked at each other, blinked, and then looked back. Who was this weirdo?

"As for your friends," Jeeves continued on, "I happen to know where they are being held."

"You do?" Amelia asked eagerly.

He nodded, smiling. "Follow me." And with that, the butler ghost disappeared behind the tapestry he came through.

Lina and Amelia stared. Lina was about to ask what next when Jeeves reappeared.

"Goodness me, I forgot to tell you there's a hidden passage behind this tapestry, didn't?" he said. "How terribly rude, please forgive me." He disappeared again.

Amelia lifted the tapestry, and sure enough there was another corridor. Jeeves stood (or rather, floated) waiting for them. "Come on now, let's hurry, there isn't much time to spare."

As the walked down the hallway, Lina whispered, "So Amelia, what do you think of this Jeeves guy?"

Amelia bit her lip. "I really don't know Miss Lina. I mean, he says he knows where Mr. Gourry and Mr. Zelgadis are, but…"

"But he could be leading us into a trap," Lina finished. Amelia nodded. "Still," Lina continued, "It's not like there's any better option."

Amelia frowned "But what-"

She was cut off as Jeeves suddenly said, "Well, I suppose you're wondering why your friends were kidnapped, no?" Without waiting for a response Jeeves continued. "You see, many years ago this mansion belonged to a powerful sorceress, known simply as L. L was all at once admired, feared and respected for her skill at sorcery. Kanzaka Manor (that's what this place is called) was renowned throughout the world as a great center of magical research.

One day L fell in love with another sorcerer. The two were engaged to be wed, when an evil sorceress, jealous of their love, ruined everything. On the day of their wedding, she kidnapped L's fiancée and bewitched him to fall in love with her instead. Devastated, L committed suicide."

"Th-that's so sad!" Amelia sniffed, clearly moved by his story.

"It gets worse," Jeeves said melodramatically. _This guy sure likes to hear himself talk, _though Lina. "Shortly after L's death, the servants all died mysteriously one by one. The mansion was quickly abandoned, and fell into disrepair. Now L's ghost haunts this place, lamenting the loss the loss of her fiancée, while the ghosts of her servants wander about the mansion, taking any living man who enters to their mistress in the hopes he might be her beloved."

"What about you?" Lina asked. "How do you fit into all this?"

"Oh me? I was dead long before all this started," Jeeves said cheerfully. "I'm really just an observer. And now I must leave you, friends, for we have arrived."

Amelia gave him a surprised look. "You're not coming with us? Why?"

"Because," replied Jeeves, slowly disappearing, "I don't like getting to involved in this sort of thing. I really prefer just watching from the sidelines." And then he was gone.

"That cowardly sonova-!" Lina growled strangling the air.

"Miss Lina, please, let's just concentrate on rescuing Mr. Gourry and Mr. Zelgadis," Amelia pleaded.

Lina took a few deep breaths and nodded. Turning, she pushed the door open.

Or tried to at least. "What!" she cried angrily. "Why won't this thing open!" She slammed her self against the door, but to no avail.

"Ummm, Miss Lina…" Amelia tapped the older sorceress on the shoulder.

"Not now Amelia!" Lina muttered a spell, and Amelia only had split second to leap out of the way before she cast it. "Damu Bras!" **_Boom!_** The doorway exploded.

"Miss Lina, the sign said 'pull,'" Amelia said getting up and coughing.

"Oh…" Suddenly Lina felt very stupid. But it didn't last long. Once the smoke cleared, they saw some sort of magical laboratory. And in the middle of it stood the semi-transparent figure of a tall blonde woman in a black-strapless dress.

"L," Lina and Amelia said in unison. The woman from the portraits.

L smirked. "Indeed."

* * *

A/N: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Cliffhanger. Aren't I evil? AND I ACTUALLY UPDATED! -Gasp shock horror- 


	3. Part 3

**The Mystery of Kanzaka Manor- Part 3**

For a split second, no one did anything. Then Lina spoke. "Where are Zel and Gourry?" she demanded.

"And don't you dare think of tricking us," Amelia added emphatically. "We have the power of Justice on our side!"

Ignoring both outbursts, L asked in an almost bored tone of voice, "I suppose Jeeves fed you that load of bull about me being some moping ghost who thinks anything male and breathing is my long lost lover or something?"

Lina and Amelia blinked, surprised. He had been lying? L continued. "Once, when I was nothing but an ordinary ghost, that was true. But then a Mazoku, beaten and close to death, was sealed into this mansion by a sorcerer, in the hopes that by trapping it here where few humans went, it would starve to death from a lack negative emotions. But he did not know of my presence, and I was able to save the Mazoku's life by merging with it.

"Although I am now stronger because of this merge, I still cannot break through the seal. That is why I took your friends." L smirked evilly. "With the power of their negative emotions, and now yours as well, I can finally leave this place."

A cold feeling of dread sank into Lina's stomach. When a Mazoku wanted lots of negative emotions from a human, and they wanted them fast, there was one way they got it.

Slow, agonizingly painful torture. Things were suddenly looking bad, very bad, for all four of them. "What have you done with Zel and Gourry?" she growled in a menacing tone.

"Oh they're still alive. Barely. You can see them if you want." L waved her hand, and the two men in question appeared, lying on the floor.

L couldn't help but grin as the two sorceresses rushed to check their comrades. As she had said, both were still alive, but unconscious, and showing signs of torture. There were cuts, bruises, gashes, etc. covering their bodies.

To be honest L, was a little surprised by the level of anguish coming from the two sorceresses. A friend wouldn't be this upset, which could only mean… they were more than friends.

She smiled. Normally the lovey-dovey feelings humans often had just made her sick, but in this case they created more negative feelings for her to feast on. So much the better. She was going to be really fat after this.

Then L noticed the black-haired girl was trying to cast a healing spell on her friends. Now that just wouldn't do.

"Amelia!" Amelia looked up just in time to see a magical shockwave coming at her, before she was blasted backwards into the wall. She groaned as she slowly stood up.

"Are you alright?" Lina asked worriedly.

"I-I'm fine," she replied, forcing a small smile. She started to chant a spell, but before she could finish, L sent a beam of magic energy in her direction. Amelia frantically leaped to one side, but the beam still hit her right arm, and she couldn't suppress a yelp of pain. Without missing a beat, L shot another beam at Lina, who, caught off guard, was hit in the side.

"Aah!"

Amelia clenched her fists, angry. No one hurt her friends and got away with it! So she unleashed the second most deadly weapon in her arsenal. A speech. "Hear me villain who hath strayed from path of Justice!" she roared, pointing her left finger at L. "Repent your ways, see the true light of Justice, and perhaps I will spare you! If you refuse, no force on this earth will spare thee from the righteous wrath of the Flames of Justice that burn in my heart!"

Amelia's speech, although extremely corny (but kinda funny), did serve the purpose of buying Lina time to chant a spell.

"Aasha Dist!"

L screamed as she was a hit by the blast of Astral energy. The two sorceresses tensed, waiting for the smoke to clear…

L was still standing, only now considerably more pissed off. "I'll make you pay for that," she said in a dangerously quiet tone. She snapped her fingers.

Zel and Gourry, still lying on the floor, stirred. Gourry groaned, while Zel weakly got up onto his knees.

"Lina? Amelia?" he breathed, "When did you get here?"

Before they could answer, L carried on, "Now you can all feel the anguish and agony of having to watch each other be tortured to death." And with that she released a series of energy beams at Gourry and Zel.

"Gourry! Zel!" Lina cried. Angrily, Amelia raised her hands to spell-casting position, but before she could do anything, L turned to her and released a wave of electricity. Amelia screamed as the pain coursed through her body, before everything went dark…

"No!" A feeling of horror went through Zelgadis as he watched Amelia crumple to the ground. Enraged, he turned to L and charged at her, sword drawn. "Astral Vine!" he bellowed, and swung at the ghost-mazoku hybrid. L merely dodged out of the way, and, yelling something Lina couldn't understand, blasted him with a magical shockwave. Zel flew across the room before hitting a wall and falling to the floor. He groaned. _Good. He's still alive at least. _But she couldn't say the same about Amelia.

As Lina dashed over to check on her fallen comrade, she was stopped midway by a sudden cry of "Lina!" before she felt someone slam into her, knocking her sideways. It was Gourry. As Lina saw the blood spilling from his side, she realized he must have knocked her out of the way of one of L's energy beams, and wound up taking the hit himself.

"Gourry…" This was bad. L was slowly killing them through her rapid casting of relatively weak attacks spells. Lina ran through her list of spells she could use. Judging from what she'd seen, L was a very powerful mazoku, and would therefore require some serious firepower to take her down. The Ra Tilt would probably do the job nicely. But Lina didn't know that spell, and Zel and Amelia were in no condition to cast it. Her next option would be the Dragon Slave, but that would kill her friends as well as L. She immediately ruled out the Giga Slave for obvious reasons. Which only left the Ragna Blade.

Lina got up and began to chant. "_Sword of cold and darkness, free your self from the heavens bonds…"_

L looked up at her, having noticed her chanting. "What spell is this?"

"_Become one with my power, one with my body…"_

L frowned, clearly not recognizing the spell. She began to chant a defense spell.

"_And let us walk the path of destruction together, power that can smash even the souls of the gods. **Ragna Blade!**"_ As the familiar blade of darkness formed in her hands, Lina lunged at L, and slashed with everything she could muster. L's dying scream faded away as she was cleaved in two and dissolved into nothingness.

Lina fell to her knees, exhaustion dragging at every part of her. She could hardly believe it. They had won.

The last thing she remembered as she drifted out of consciousness was the sound of Gourry calling her name…

A/N: Well, this fic is turning out much darker than I expected, so I upped the rating to T. Still one or 2 chapters left. What did you think? L didn't turn out quite as OOC as I'd originally intended (at first, what Jeeves said was true. But then I got rid of the idea. Less fun to write).

As for when my next update, I've found the best time for writing is late at night, when my brain is only half awake. The only days I can stay up that late are Friday and Saturday, when there's no school. So the next chapter will either be up tomorrow or next weekend. Please leave reviews! They make me happy and wanna write more!


	4. Part 4

**The Mystery of Kanzaka Manor- Part 4**

Gourry limped over to Lina, clutching his side which was still bleeding heavily. He knelt down beside her, and with one arm, turned her over onto her back.

"Lina," he said hoarsely, "Are you alright?" There was no reply. He noticed the shallow but steady rise and fall of her chest and gave a small sigh of relief. She was still alive at least, if unconscious.

Meanwhile, Zel was making similar checks on Amelia. The raven-haired princess stirred and sat-up with a groan.

"Wha-what happened?" she asked groggily. "Mr. Zelgadis? Where's L?!"

"It's fine Amelia. Lina beat her with a Ragna Blade."

Amelia nodded, heaving a sigh of relief. She got unsteadily up to her feet, took a couple steps, before collapsing on the ground.

"Amelia!" Worried, Zelgadis knelt down beside her.

"I-I'm fine Mr. Zelgadis." Looking up at his face, she managed to grin weakly. "Really." He still didn't look convinced.

They were interrupted when they heard Gourry call in a panicky voice, "Zelgadis! Amelia! I can't wake Lina!"

They exchanged a worried glance, and, with Amelia leaning on Zel for support, went to check on their friend.

After a quick appraisal, Amelia began to chant Resurrection. Zel shot her an alarmed look. If Amelia was casting Resurrection, Lina's condition must have been worse than he'd thought.

While she worked, Zelgadis worked on his and Gourry's injuries with a series of Recovery spells. After a few minutes, they were done. Now there was nothing to do but wait for Amelia to finish.

There was one thing Zel still couldn't understand. Lina's injuries didn't seem much worse than his own, so why was Amelia using Resurrection…? He sat there mulling it over for a moment or two before he figured it out.

The Ragna Blade. Zelgadis couldn't cast the spell himself (as far as he knew, Lina was the only one who could), but he knew that spell drained a lot of energy out of the caster. Lina was so exhausted from summoning the Ragna Blade, she had barely any strength left to recover, so instead of using Recovery (which merely sped up the natural healing process and used the patients own energy), Amelia used Resurrection (which drew energy from the area surrounding the patient to heal them). _Yes, that must be it._

Gourry didn't know fully what was going on, nor would he have been capable of comprehending if he did. All he did know was that Lina was badly hurt. And that was all he really needed to know. He sat there on the cold stone floor for what seemed like hours, watching Lina as Amelia healed her.

_Why?_ he asked himself silently. _Why did you have to get hurt trying to save me? _He couldn't shake the feeling of guilt and dread that he may have failed his duty as Lina's protector…

* * *

Later that evening found them a good ways away from the mansion. After a while, Amelia, too spent to continue healing Lina, had been forced to stop. Although there had been some definite improvement, it was still uncertain whether she would pull through. All they could do was wait and see what happened. In the mean time, they put as much distance as possible between them and the mansion. Gourry carried a still unconscious Lina, and Zelgadis offered to do the same for Amelia, but she declined.

"I'm alright," she'd said, managing a weak smile. "Really." After an hour or so, she eventually accepted.

By now, night had fallen, they'd set up camp and Amelia and Zelgadis were now sitting side by side next to the fire. Noticing her shivering, Zel hesitantly wrapped an arm around her.

She jumped slightly at his touch, but other than that didn't react. "I'm sure Lina will be fine," he said, not sounding nearly as convincing as he'd wanted to.

Amelia nodded, and there was complete silence except for the crackling of the fire.

On the other side of the campfire, Gourry sat cradling Lina in his arms, holding her close as if afraid she might disappear if he didn't. Some of the color had returned to her cheeks, but there were still tinges of grey from exhaustion.

This wasn't the first time he'd come close to losing Lina, and if she recovered, he doubted it would be the last. But that still made it no less painful.

What Gourry hated most was not being able to do anything, having to watch and wait to see what happened. He couldn't stop her from getting hurt. He couldn't heal her. Nothing. If she died… No, he couldn't think about that. He had to believe things would be alright.

"Please, Lina," he whispered, brushing a lock of red hair off her face, "Don't die."

* * *

When Lina came to, the first thing she became aware of was how warm and comfortable her pillow was. _Wait a second, pillow? When did I get to an inn?_ Lina sat up and looked around. Trees, blue sky, and the sound of chirping birds surrounded her. Off to her left she spotted the smoking remnants of a campfire. _Ok, I'm not at an inn. Then what…?_ She twisted around to look behind her, and saw Gourry sitting cross legged with his head hung over, his face obscured by his long blonde hair. The sound of light snoring told her he was asleep.

_Oh. That explains it._ Lina's face pinkened slightly. On the other side of the clearing she noticed Zel and Amelia lying side by side in each other's arms, also asleep. Lina sniggered. _Well, aren't they cute?_ She debated on whether or not to wake them up, but in the end decided not to. _I can tease them about it later._

Lina's stomach growled. Loudly. She was a little surprised that it didn't wake the others. _Right, _she thought. _Time for, uhhh- _she glanced at the sun- _breakfast. I hope we still have some provisions left. _She rummaged through the pockets in her mantle and fished out a few small bundles. _Score!_ She gathered some more wood and got the fire going again.

* * *

Gourry awoke to the smell of something good. Something good that was cooking. He opened his eyes and lifted his head.

"Lina!" Relief flooded through him as he saw the redheaded little sorceress sitting by the campfire tending a pot of what he hoped was breakfast.

Hearing her name Lina looked up. "Gourry, you're awa- ack!" She was cut off as Gourry wrapped her into a bear hug that could almost rival one of Prince Philionel's (the almost being because she could still breathe).

"Lina," he sighed, relieved, "You're alright."

"Of course I'm alright. I'm talking to you aren't I?"

"I was really worried about you," he continued. "I should've done something to stop you from getting hurt- Ow!" He massaged his scalp where Lina had hit him.

"That," she said sternly, "Was for blaming yourself for things you couldn't help. I knew what I was doing when I used the Ragna Blade."

"Well Mr. Zelgadis, it looks like Miss Lina and Mr. Gourry have finally admitted their true feelings for each other," Amelia said loudly. Lina and Gourry both blushed furiously as they sprung apart.

"It's about time too," Zel replied, clearly enjoying their embarrassment.

"You're one to talk," Lina retorted. "You guys looked awful sweet sleeping together like that." It gave her an immense feeling of satisfaction to watch them turn bright red and stammer incoherently.

"Say Lina," Gourry cut in. "Do you smell something burning?" A feeling of dread sank into her stomach as she slowly turned her head towards the campfire. Plumes of dark smoke rose from the cooking pot.

"AUGH! MY BREAKFAST!"

* * *

A/N: Wow, I finally finished. This is the first serious fic I've ever completed. -Tear- I hope you all liked it. I did my best to keep everyone in character, I hope I succeeded. I'd like to thank for providing me with synonyms to keep my vocabulary varied, and all my reviewers too for their support. Seriously folks, reviewers' compliments make me want to write more.

I do plan on writing more. My next little project will be a funny Slayers/Lost Universe crossover, though I haven't decided which category to put it in yet (You can expect lots of random weirdness though).

Please R&R! Until next time, earthlings.


End file.
